If you need an addictive new show to binge-watch, Prime has you set with its spicy thriller series The Girlfriend.
The six-episode miniseries stars Robin Wright as Laura, an overprotective mother and wealthy gallery owner, and Olivia Cooke as Cherry, the working-class girlfriend of Laura’s son Daniel (Laurie Davidson).
What differentiates the show from your usual romance thrillers is that the series makes heavy use of dual perspectives: we see scenes played out with how Laura interprets moments and interactions, and then from Cherry’s perspective too. Seeing the same moments through filtered lenses makes opinions change as to whose side of the drama you’re really on.
Warning! This article is about to discuss The Girlfriend series in depth, so bookmark this if you haven’t watched it yet and come back to avoid spoilers!
The Girlfriend leaves viewers divided after tense six-episode series
Fans of the show are divided about whether they’re Team Laura or Team Cherry, with some thinking Laura was only trying to protect her son, while others are advocating for Cherry, saying she was only reacting to Laura’s behaviour.
Both characters displayed wild behaviour over the six episodes: from Cherry throwing Laura’s cat out a window, to Laura lying to Cherry and telling her Daniel had died after a rock-climbing accident. The nuances and two different perspectives have left fans debating who’s really in the wrong.
“The mother just digging for something wrong is appalling. Going through people’s things, phones, rooms, having no boundaries,” one person said on a Reddit thread discussing the show.
“I just finished it and OMG I genuinely was more on the side of the Mum tbh,” someone else stated. “Cherry just gave me the creeps the whole time and I felt like I hated her more and more as the show went on. The mum was extreme but I kind of understood her motive to protect her son even though she went too far.”
“I hate Cherry,” someone else agreed. “Anyone who is on her side or condones her behaviour has issues. Yeah, Laura is messed up AF. But all these team Cherry people are cray.”
Other people pointed out there’s a likeness between Cherry and Laura.
“Too many are picking and choosing who’s the worst when they’re essentially the same person. There’s hints to it throughout,” one person pointed out. “Like when the husband notes that Laura did the same thing (BJ) upon meeting his parents. Laura getting Cherry fired, Cherry sabotaging Laura in the art world. Cherry saying her father was dead, Laura saying her son was dead.
“Both are very controlling and manipulative. Cherry definitely has a darker streak but Laura was willing to drug her own son to make him listen to her, so she’s not that far off. At the end of the day I think it was a trope on the whole men marry their mothers/girlfriends replace the mother.”
And some fans aren’t happy with The Girlfriend finale, calling it a ‘cop out’
If you’ve watched the season, you know it ends with Cherry heavily pregnant and everyone playing happy families after Laura’s death (where Daniel accidentally drowned his mum while trying to keep her away from Cherry, after Cherry discovered Laura had drugged Daniel while trying to tell him the truth about Cherry’s dad – yeah, a lot is going on here).
However, Daniel finds his late mother’s phone, charges it, and then finds a video message and the audio recording Laura took when talking to Cherry’s mum about her behaviour. In an earlier scene, Laura had visited Cherry’s mum to find out the truth about what had left Cherry’s dad in care after a brain injury, and found out Cherry had pushed him off a building. Like we said, a lot is going on in this show!!!
With the final minutes of the season painting Cherry as the villain, as a horrified Daniel realises “the truth”, fans have spoken up in defence of Cherry and the way the series ended.
@liz_marie_p Wine nights with Cherry would go crazy! ðŸ’ðŸ·This show, The Girlfriend, was so unhinged I loved it. #thegirlfriend #amazonprime #tvshow #fyp ♬ Me and the Devil – Soap&Skin
“I was disappointed they copped out at the end and said Cherry was a psychopath and fortune hunter. She had her own prestigious job and she didn’t chase after him, he chased after her. She only lied about the school because her coworker got promoted for going there while being far less capable at the job,” one person said on Reddit. “Cherry is intelligent, hard-working, capable, good looking and never pretends to Daniel that she is upper class.
“I doubt they would let a child or teenage girl go up to the 13th or 14th floor of a building site. The father calling her a liar may easily have been abusive or incestuous and trying to hide his actions. And why would the [Cherry’s] mother, a butcher with a store full of sharp instruments, encourage Cherry to move back in if she got violent over simple frustrations?”
“I felt that the reveal about Cherry being a psycho at the end was unearned and underbaked because we did see her express genuine love and affection for Daniel and his dad,” another person said.
“Yes she did do some nuts things but beyond the initial lying, it was all in reaction to Laura’s escalations, like lying about Daniel’s death. I was intrigued with where they were going with Cherry, but to just plop in that she’s always been a violent psycho felt wrong.”
Will there be a second season of The Girlfriend?
With it ending on the cliff-hanger of Daniel finding the recording and Cherry ready to pop out their baby, fans are keen to see how the story would continue to play out.
As of right now, a second season hasn’t been announced, but we’re holding out hope.
Robin Wright, who starred as Laura and directed the show, dropped a tantalising line to Today. “Laura could still be alive,” she speculated. “If he resuscitates her, that’s not on camera.”
Well, as one person said about Season One: “It made little sense, but was very addictive. Very enjoyable.”
Stream The Girlfriend now on Prime Video.
